For the last in Downtown's predictions series, we welcome the opinions of CD Baby President, Scott Williams...
How do you predict technology will impact the business and the industry at large in 2024?
SW: AI and LLMs (like ChatGPT) will impact most businesses in 2024. AI-generated music gets most of the attention in our industry. It's sad to think we're in an era where people can so easily generate and distribute music they haven't even listened to themselves. The per-submission pricing at CDB+SD is an effective deterrent against the most spammy content.
The 3 areas where we expect to see the most benefit from AI in 2024 are:
1. Evolution of our chatbot. We've had a lot of success at CD Baby with our AI-powered chatbot (Ada). Those tools will evolve and become more impactful, especially as they are connected to (internal and external) APIs and can provide more personalized responses, checking account balances etc
2. Image recognition. We've prototyped using an image recognition service called Hive.ai that can detect problematic album art and flag it for a closer look. We will incorporate that into our QC processes in 2024 and...
3. Assisted coding. We have been trying out GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered code completion tool, with impressive results. We'll look to leverage that more in 2024.
(response above was written by ChatGPT... or was it?)
What do you think presents the biggest opportunity for creators and their teams?
SW: With 100k+ tracks being delivered to Spotify daily, it's hard to get discovered, stand out and connect with fans. I'd say focusing on creating music that's unique and makes you happy needs to be a top priority. Playing live music, sharing on socials and using promotional/marketing tools to grow your fanbase are all good ideas. Creators should bookmark: https://cdbaby.com/music-promotion
What is the most important thing the industry should look to achieve in 2024?
SW: Taking the next step with Music Fights Fraud (MFF) and building reliable tools/processes that can help press MUTE on fraud.
Your business to watch in 2024.
SW: Groover (groover.co) is a company to keep an eye on. They connect you with music professionals and curators who will listen to your music and provide feedback.
